Vets Beyond Borders Australia

Vets Beyond Borders membership and volunteering

Please note that you must be a paid member of Vets Beyond Borders (VBB) to register an application to volunteer in any of our projects - Become a VBB Member Now. Please also note that VBB membership is not in any form a contract or a guarantee that your application to volunteer will be approved or accepted, as a suitable position to match your skills and availability may not become available. VBB has strict guidelines and requirements for selecting our project volunteers, which ensure our projects' integrity, efficiency, good local relations and long-term viability. These guidelines also ensure the welfare of the animals that are handled by our projects.
VBB makes every effort to ensure that a volunteer's experience will be satisfying and that their wellbeing will be a priority in our processing of their engagement and onsite management. We can not, however, be liable or responsible at any stage for the outcome or consequence of anyone registering to volunteer, being screened or approved to volunteer, and undertaking the volunteer engagement itself. Volunteers are also at all times responsible for their own personal safety, actions and behaviour.
Vets Beyond Borders is also not liable for any expenses incurred by the volunteer in the course of their volunteer engagement whether they have partially undertaken and fulfilled the planned or other volunteer engagement or not, including any travel arrangements. VBB puts in place procedures and protocols to ensure as much as possible the security and safety of volunteers while engaged on project sites. Also, in the event of a natural disaster or any other act that may affect the project site or prevent travel to or from it, volunteers will be assisted as much as possible and as is reasonable by VBB staff, volunteers and agents. No responsibility or liability can be taken by VBB for the safety or security of volunteers and we require that travel insurance cover be taken out as soon as possible after travel arrangments are booked for the full term of such travel.

If you have any queries on these aspects please Contact Us.

Terms & conditions for volunteering
Volunteers are required to sign an agreement that binds them to the following Terms and Conditions while taking part in any project or activity affiliated, managed or administered by Vets Beyond Borders (VBB). The wording of this document is as follows:

Declaration by Volunteer:
As a volunteer participating in a VBB Project, I understand, acknowledge and agree to the following Terms & Conditions, which will apply during and continue in full force and effect after my term as a volunteer on the project has ended:

1. I am responsible for holding a current passport that will remain current for not less than 6 months after my arrival in the Project Country in which I am to be a volunteer, unless I am a current resident in the Project Country.
2. I am responsible for obtaining any necessary visas and permits and assuming the costs associated with visa and permit requirements.
3. I am responsible for providing my own adequate travel, medical and medical-evacuation insurance prior to my arrival in the Project Country, covering the activities associated with the Project (and specifically insurable risks associated with working or interacting with animals and/or wildlife) and for the duration of the Project in which I am participating.
4. I agree to provide VBB with a certified copy of the Terms & Conditions of my travel, medical and medical-evacuation insurance before my arrival in the Project Country.
5. I understand the risk of contracting malaria and other infectious diseases in the Project Country and accept that it is my responsibility to consult a qualified medical practitioner regarding the need for appropriate vaccinations and other medications during my visit to the Project and the Project Country.
6. I agree to have all necessary vaccinations, as recommended by a qualified medical practitioner, including the complete series of pre-exposure rabies vaccinations, before my arrival in the Project Country. If rabies vaccinations are not taken I must supply VBB with medical evidence of immunity (appropriate titre reading) against rabies. I agree to provide VBB with a copy of the evidence of relevant rabies vaccination or immunity levels before my departure.
7. I understand I will not be paid to participate in the VBB Project. I am a volunteer and not an employee or represent-ative of VBB or any other independent volunteer organisation involved with the Project in the Project Country.
8. I am a current financial member of VBB and agree to abide by the rules and requirements of VBB and any other independent Partner Volunteer Organisation at all times and to work alongside local staff and international volunteers as instructed. I acknowledge that failure to do so may result in me being asked to cease participation in the Project.
9. I acknowledge that I am responsible for all costs and expenses related to my participation in the Project, including but not limited to all expenses for travel to and from and within the Project Country.
10. For the purposes of furthering the work of VBB, I agree that VBB may have access to, use, or give others permission to use, any photographs taken by me or of me while working in my capacity as a volunteer, without giving due attribution or compensation to me.
11. I agree to complete the VBB volunteer feedback form as soon as possible on completion of my participation in the Project. This form is located online at http://www.vetsbeyondborders.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer/volunteer-feedback-form/ or a hard copy can be requested from VBB administration (contact details at end of this form). 
12. I agree to take advice from appropriate Consular, Embassy, or High Commission personnel and appropriate local personnel if the security situation in a Project Country deteriorates. [Australians register at: www.smartraveller.gov.au]
13. I agree that I will not use my position as a volunteer in the Project Country to request advantages or obtain favours, including any financial or sexual favours or the obtaining of any material gifts.
14. I agree to avoid making references to political or military situations in official or private communications, including conversations, telephone calls, radio messages, emails, faxes and letters.
15. I agree not to make any private or public representation of, or on behalf of, VBB or its projects, or make any comment or provide any material to any newspaper or other media outlet without written permission of VBB.
16. I agree to pay due respect to the religious beliefs, customs, traditions and habits of the local population, and conduct myself accordingly.
17. I agree to act responsibly at all times for my own safety and the safety of others.
18. I agree to observe strictly all laws and regulations of the Project Country.
19. I acknowledge that I am not legally entitled to commit VBB financially or otherwise, without having received specific instructions or an agreement to proceed.
20. I agree to hold VBB indemnified, free and harmless against any claim, loss or damage arising now or in the future out of any act, negligence or omission by me during my stay in the Project Country or in connection with any work related to VBB or any Volunteer Organisation. I agree to accept fully the risks associated with Project work which I will be undertaking, and therefore hold VBB indemnified, freed and blameless from any claim, loss or damage occurring to myself or my possessions whilst undertaking Project work in the Project Country.
21. I agree that any person who accompanies me on my visit to the Project and enters the Project facilities or site who is not a registered VBB volunteer will also be bound by these conditions.
22. I agree to comply unconditionally with the Terms & Conditions contained within this document.

VBB reserves the right to alter these terms and conditions. Any variations will be posted on the website, which volunteers must review from time to time.